Following the Fishers: 9 Months ~Amelia~

I am a couple days late but figured I would wait until I had the official 9 month stats from her doctor appointment versus just updating after I had already posted. So here goes! Our little girl is ¾ of a year old already.

Best I could do this month trying to get a 9 month shot of her sitting still

Growth:
Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz (52nd percentile)
Height: 28 1/4" (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 43.8 cm (46th percentile)

Still long and a little on the lean side for her length. She is 1/4" taller than Grant was at this age and 3 lbs lighter.

Amelia is wearing 12 month clothing, size 3 diapers and size 3 shoes (occasionally).

Mobility/Coordination: This girl is still cruising primarily by crawling and her “crab crawl” has gone by the wayside for the more traditional method of crawling. She climbs the stairs, plops on her butt from standing, and is also cruising very well along the furniture. She can switch from coffee table to couch to walker toy to recliner.

Another favorite… her walking toy. She pulls a little to the left but she goes flying down the hallway as long as nothing gets in her way. I think if she just let go while standing she’d have the balance to not fall but she has yet to be so daring.

Language/Communication: We’ve heard lots of ma and ba babble along with some wa, pa, and ya sounds. Her favorite go to sound is ah ba. Everything is “ah ba” while she points and repeats it over and over. She has yet to have any da da babble and we’ve only heard that sound a couple of times. She likes to mock laughs by going “ha” back and forth with someone. She says mommy and ma ma and I am pretty sure she knows what she is saying. She uses sign language for “all done” and does so in the correct context… usually after she is done eating and wants out of her high chair or doesn’t want her diaper changed or ear drops put in. When you blow her a kiss, she makes a kissing noise back by smacking her lips.

Personality/Amelia-isms: Boy does this girl have personality and sass this month! I am not sure if the sassiness has come along with all the teeth she has popped this month or what. We noticed on a couple of occasions when we had our backs turned, Amelia would suddenly scream and cry very hard. We would turn to see Grant looking very guilty. Of course, we assumed he had pushed/pinched/hurt her over a toy or minor dispute. Well, come to find out he was barely touching/bumping her. It’s almost as if she is already trying to get him in trouble. She still doesn’t like hearing no or be redirected and will sometimes scream or cry very hard over that… little miss independent.

Don’t get me wrong. She is still happy and laid back 95% of the time but the 5% that she isn’t… she’s a fireball!

We’ve also noticed that she isn’t sucking her thumb as much. Those hands are busy doing other things. She will still pop it in her mouth when she is tired or upset but normally she’s busy with other stuff.

Sleep: No news here. She is napping 2-3 times per day and reserves her long nap for early afternoon. Even with the 4 new teeth, cold/cough, and ear infection(s) this month she still sleeps through the night without waking/crying just the occasional cough.

Feeding: The pump has been packed away and actually sold so those days are behind us. I was still trying to nurse just at night but Amelia got to the point that she wanted nothing to do with it. Not enough milk there and not nearly fast enough for her. I’m a little sad over it but have had some time to adjust now.

She takes 4-5 bottles a day that are usually about 5-8 oz. Although, she’s been a little stinker when it comes to bottles and will sometimes refuse. The doctor said we should try to get at least 20 oz in her a day but if not she isn't concerned. Amelia is still getting about 25% breastmilk/75% formula but my freezer stash is almost gone. As I mentioned, she is at times showing less interest in bottles and seems to prefer solids. When she is in the mood, she can pack the food away and will often times eat more than Grant! Her new favorite game: put food in her mouth then take it out to play with it.

Teeth: Holy cow at the teeth this month! As I mentioned, she’s been a crab and for obvious reasons. She has popped 4 teeth this month beginning with her upper left lateral incisor, then both upper central incisors, and about 2 weeks later her upper right lateral incisor. This little girl definitely has every right to be crabby. You should see the size of these teeth! Her upper central incisors are huge! I see some major buck teeth in her future if the size of these baby teeth are any indication of how big her adult teeth will be! J

The best shot I could get of those gigantic teeth!

Illnesses: Well with teeth comes the fun stuff of coughs, runny nose, fever, and ear infection(s). At one point this month with no other symptoms present, she ran a fever of about 101 for 2 days then she spiked at 104. At that point we gave her a half dose of Tylenol and some peppermint oil and it never returned. 104 is a bit high for teeth but Grant had a tendency to get high fevers with his teeth too. We took her to the doctor later in the month because of her cough and when my mom showed up with the kids to meet me I noticed her right ear was draining. Of course, the doctor confirmed the ear infection(s) and said her lungs sounded just fine. We started ear drops and the ears have cleared up.

Brother/Sister Moment(s): Grant calls Amelia the “tornado” when she is on the path of destruction for his toys. When she cries, Grant will give her a hug and say “It’s ok A-mew-la. I’ll protect you.” He really is such a great big brother and a huge help still.

Firsts: We had our first night away from Amelia this month for a snowboarding trip. My mom was in town and stayed with the kids so we knew they were in great hands (as they always are when we choose to leave them of course!). We know it’s good for us to get away and have our alone time to reconnect but it is still hard. We miss them when we’re away even if just for a date night. When we decided to have children, we knew it wasn’t always going to be easy or convenient but now that they are here we’d much rather spend time together as a family. It isn’t someone else’s job to raise our children or us always pawn them off on someone. That is honestly how we feel each time we ask someone to watch them… guilty or like we are pawning them off. We have amazing family who are always more than willing to help us when needed but we always hate asking and feel like we are inconveniencing them. So yes, we take time for us but do so sparingly.

Likes: music (she rocks back and forth as soon as she hears it) ~ balloons! ~ walking with the walker ~ reading ~ turning the pages in books ~ walking along furniture ~ chewing everything in sight ~ solid food